Reading-comprehension questions ask you to work with the information supplied. A believable answer can still be wrong if it adds a condition the passage never states. Practise separating what is written, what follows logically and what you merely expect to happen.
OFAI includes reading ability in its FACT assessment. Check your own provider’s guide for the coverage and format you will face. The passage below is an original fictional exercise, not a question copied from a recruitment exam.
Read for conditions, exceptions and sequence
On a first reading, establish the main purpose. On a second, find the words that control a decision: “before,” “after,” “only,” “unless,” “all” and “except.” A short exception can change an otherwise straightforward instruction.
Turn a sequence into numbered steps on permitted working paper. For a conditional rule, write the condition and its consequence separately. This prevents a requirement for one group from being applied to everyone.
Try an original instruction exercise
At the fictional Cedar Learning Centre, visitors collect a blue card at reception before entering the reading room. Visitors using the computer room must also collect a numbered ticket. Group leaders collect the blue cards for their entire group; each group member who will use the computer room must collect their own ticket. Before leaving, all visitors return blue cards to reception. Computer-room tickets go in the tray beside the computer-room door.
- Who collects the blue cards for a group?
- Does a group member visiting only the reading room need a numbered ticket?
- Where does a computer-room visitor return their ticket?
- Does the passage say the numbered ticket grants priority access?
Answers: the group leader collects the group’s blue cards. A reading-room-only visitor does not need a numbered ticket under these instructions. Computer-room tickets go in the tray beside that room’s door. The passage does not say that tickets grant priority access.
Notice the distinction between the card and the ticket. Both are collected, but the rules assign different people and return locations to them. “Everything goes back to reception” sounds convenient and contradicts the passage.
Match each answer to its evidence
For each choice, point to the sentence that supports or contradicts it. If an answer says “all visitors,” look for whether the passage actually covers every visitor or only computer-room users. If it adds a reason, check whether that reason was stated.
When a question asks what can be inferred, select a conclusion that follows from the text. For example, every computer-room visitor in this exercise needs both a blue card and a ticket. You cannot infer that the rooms have different opening hours: no hours are supplied.
Rewrite one rule and see which answers change. If group leaders now collect every ticket, the answer about individual collection changes; the return location does not. This variation checks whether you understand the condition instead of remembering an answer.
Use the same care with application instructions
Calgary’s recruitment page describes separate application, testing and document-submission steps. For your chosen department, build a checklist directly from the current posting and invitation. Separate what is needed now from what is requested at a later stage.
Before a practice session, decide whether you are training close reading or working under time pressure. Review inaccurate answers before shortening the time. Speed is useful when it preserves the meaning of the instructions.
Read our CPS preparation guide, or start a free trial to try more practice.